Le Métis de Dieu

Aron (Jean-Marie) Lustiger disappointed his father at 14, by choosing baptism over bar mitzvah. His mother was gassed at Auschwitz. He became archbishop of Paris and a Cardinal. I remember hearing about him as archbishop, but didn't know till fairly recently that he was Jewish. The scene is set for personal, family and social conflicts, which are presented with thoughtfulness, and the acting is excellent. The part of JPII is particularly well portrayed; he was Pope so long that even those of us who lived through his papacy have tended to forget he was once a young, vigorous, dynamic pontiff, from a background atypical for XXth century popes. We tend to remember him as old and ill and increasingly rigid. The actor captures his aging convincingly. Lustiger was insistent that he was both Jewish and Catholic, to the consternation of some from both faiths, but his dual understanding enabled him to for towards reconciliation. The original title « Le Métis de Dieu » (God's half-breed) is, to my mind, more evocative than its English translation. After all, what's peculiar in terms of eternity about a Jewish Cardinal? Jesus, his disciples and earliest followers were all Jewish, including St Peter, who is the man from whom all popes claim apostolic succession.

This movie carries with it a large amount of animosity between Jews and Catholics, especially in regard to who owned the rights to display Auschwitz as a central part of their history of suffering.

But, to me, it expresses a great need to announce to the world the completeness by those Jews who have grown to accept Jesus as their long awaited Messiah.

What some have come to call themselves today -- those who are both Christian and Jewish at birth -- is a "completed Jew." There are today many Messianic Christian fellowships, one of which is called Jews for Jesus.

Obviously, during the time this film was made, there weren't that many completed Jews making public statements, so that is why it was so newsworthy in the mid 80s.

Today, this fact should be old news.

I just came back from seeing this today at the Jewish Film Festival and it was absolutely wonderful, I highly recommend it. A movie that takes on the identity of Judaism and Catholicism, the separation, and hopefully reconciliation of our humanity... when faced with such difficult issues as a convent on Auschwitz, and how one can maintain one's Jewish identity, while believing in a path of Jesus, without renouncing one or the other, though so many from both schools believe you should take a side so to speak.

I feel very similar in my life, born a Jew, having had my deepest spiritual experiences in life with God and Jesus, but also of Buddhism... this is how I reconcile the dichotomy...

A Jewish Seed, grows in the love of God, the love of Jesus, and the wisdom of Buddhism.

This movie was challenging but loving, beautiful, and intelligent. I guess people really did smoke that much in the '80s, eh?

Viewed at the Third Jewish Film Festival of Budapest, November 20-23, 2014

."Le Métis de Dieu" or "The Jewish Cardinal" is a most poignant docudrama based on the actual biography of Jean-Marie Lustiger, the Archbishop of Orléans from 1981 to 2005. NOTE: The French word "métis" means Half-breed" so a direct translation of the French title would be "God's Half-breed" -- not inappropriate! The Jewish catch of this film -- and what a catch it is -- is that Lustiger was actually a Polish born Jew who was made to convert to Catholicism early in life and then rose through the ranks of the French Catholic hierarchy in an unstoppable arc. Always aware of his Jewish background he suffers all kinds of conflicts, internal and external, but eventually becomes buddies with Polish Pope John Paul II -- so friendly in fact that he calls the Pope by his secular first name, Karol, (originally Karol Wojtyla) at the dinner table. The portrayal of Pope Jean- Paul II by actor Aurélien Recoing is so off-the-wall that this aspect of the film alone would be well worth the price of admission to any self-respecting Polak. It is known that Jean Paul was athletic, but here we see him plunging into his private swimming pool, driving a car, and generally cavorting about like a rather ribald ordinary citizen. Obviously a point director Ilan Duran Cohen (Obviously Jewish) wanted to make in passing. The climax is reached when at The Pope's behest Lustiger is called upon to act as an intermediary negotiator at the gates of Auschwitz between Christian proponents of a Carmelite Convent Which has popped up next to the former Concentration Camp, and vehemently protesting Jews who consider it an outrage to erect a Christian monument on the very ground where so many Jews were murdered -- (by Christian! -- even if not in the name of religion.). This is a gripping drama straight through with complex psychological repercussions at every turn. Originally made for French TV but reads far more like an in situ cinema film. Laurent Lucas is Lustiger in a role to remember. Great picture, and not only for the obviously Jewish content. BRAVO, Ilan D. Cohen, Regisseur!

According to direct Ilan Duran Cohen in response to his drive for bring the true story of Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger to film, Cohen stated,'Lustiger was always emphatic about his duel identity. In an early interview as Archbishop, he said, "I was born Jewish, and so I remain, even if that is unacceptable for many. For me, the vocation of Israel is bringing light to the goyim. That is my hope and I believe that Christianity is the means for achieving it."Lustiger was a champion of interfaith dialogue and "The Jewish Cardinal" explores these intricacies of balancing faith, family and identity. In a scene in which nuns settle to build a convent within the walls of Auschwitz (where his mother died in 1943), his Jewishness comes most sharply to the fore and Lustiger finds himself a mediator between the two communities.'

A bit of factual data: Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger 17 September 1926 – 5 August 2007 was a French cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Paris from 1981 until his resignation in 2005. He was created cardinal in 1983 by Pope John Paul II. Lustiger was born Aaron Lustiger in Paris, to a Jewish family. His parents, Charles and Gisèle Lustiger, were Ashkenazi Jews from Będzin, Poland, and had left Poland around World War I. Lustiger's father ran a hosiery shop. Aaron Lustiger studied at the Lycée Montaigne in Paris, where he first encountered anti-Semitism. Visiting Germany in 1937, he was hosted by an anti-Nazi Protestant family whose children had been required to join the Hitler Youth. Sometime between the ages of ten and twelve, Lustiger came across a Protestant Bible and felt inexplicably attracted to it. On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 the family moved to Orléans. In March 1940, during Holy Week, the 13-year old Lustiger decided to convert to Roman Catholicism. On 21 August he was baptized as Aaron Jean-Marie by the Bishop of Orléans, Jules Marie Courcoux. His sister converted later. In October 1940, the Vichy regime passed the first Statute on Jews, which forced Jews to wear a yellow badge. Although Jean-Marie Lustiger lived hidden in Orléans, his parents had to wear the badge. Lustiger, his father and sister sought refuge in unoccupied southern France, while his mother returned to Paris to run the family business. In September 1942, his mother was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where she died the following year. The surviving family returned to Paris after the war.Lustiger's father tried unsuccessfully to have his son's baptism annulled, and even sought the help of the chief rabbi of Paris.

Written by director Cohen and Chantal Derudder, THE Jewish CARDINAL relates the true story of Jean-Marie Lustiger (Laurent Lucas) the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, who maintained his cultural identity as a Jew even after converting to Catholicism at a young age, later joining the priesthood. Quickly rising within the ranks of the Church; Lustiger was appointed Archbishop of Paris by Pope Jean Paul II (Aurelien Recoing) - and found a new platform to celebrate his dual identity as a Catholic Jew; earning him both friends and enemies from either group. When Carmelite nuns settle down to build a convent within the cursed walls of Auschwitz, Lustiger found himself a mediator between the two communities - and may be forced at last to choose his side.

The acting and the setting and the glorious musical scoring enhance this little film well. It is a powerful film to experience not only because of the quality of craftsmanship that produced it, but also because of the profound message eh film's subject offers for consideration. We are all one.